NCAA Div. I Women: Arkansas Crushes Georgia Southern

By Randi Smith

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Nov. 18. Arkansas freshman Peggy Stoner captured her first collegiate victory and set a lifetime best time of 24.43 seconds in the
50-yard freestyle to help the Arkansas swimming and diving team coast to a 157-84 win over Georgia Southern Saturday at the Arkansas Natatorium.

Stoner was one of only a few Razorbacks who swam all of her normal events. Arkansas head coach Anne Goodman James let the team choose their events for this meet and several swimmers took the challenge of competing in new events.

"Overall this was a pretty good meet," Goodman James said. "You never know what is going to happen when you change events, but it makes the races more interesting and it makes them push themselves a little bit harder."

Kattie Shepherd, a sophomore from Valparaiso, Ind., met the challenge of swimming off-events head on. Shepherd won the 200 freestyle and helped lead the 200 medley relay team to victory. She also had a very
strong showing in the 200 breaststroke. "I haven't swum very well this season, but it really felt good
today," Shepherd said. "I haven't swum the 200 breaststroke in four years, and it was hard but fun because it gives you a break from regular events."

Laurie Dolgas also seized her first win of the season in the 1000 freestyle, and Natalia Kodajova continued her streak as she added victory number 11 and 12 of the season in the 100 freestyle and the 200
breaststroke.

The Lady Eagles never let down, and captured several events of their own. Erin Downs took the 200 butter-fly, and was joined in the win column by teammates Lauren Bird and Melanie Deal in the 400 individual
medley and the 200 backstroke, respectively. Georgia Southern closed the meet with a win from their only team in the 200 freestyle relay.

Arkansas also got strong performances on the boards. Katerina Kordioukova and Mandy Moran finished one-two on the one and three-meter boards.

"This has been our hardest week of training so far," Goodman James said. "So this reinforces the fact that even when we are tired, we swim hard and fast. This will give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the
season."